


Day 15: Tremble

by ANE925



Series: 30 Days Tumblr Prompt Challenge [15]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hale Family Feels, M/M, and fluff, brief mention of Jennifer, mostly Derek with a kitten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-13
Updated: 2013-11-13
Packaged: 2018-01-01 08:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1042656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANE925/pseuds/ANE925
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a thing outside his apartment hissing at him. Derek is not impressed. But, when the creature whimpers at the thunder clap, Derek relents. It’s only for the night, ok? Then the thing is back on the streets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 15: Tremble

The creature was trembling. Well trembling and hissing to be more accurate. The thing was pitiful, in all honesty. Bone thin and soaked head to toe in the late November temperature. It carried no other scents so, obviously, it had been abandoned and, yet, it still raised its hackles and hissed at him. Like the tiny thing could scare of a full grown werewolf... Derek was unimpressed.  

Here he was, standing in the rain under a clear umbrella, groceries in hand, just trying to get back to his apartment. That was all he was trying to do. He hadn't even seen the creature until it had started hissing at him. Trying to defend its pathetic 'territory' at the base of a dead bush. At first, Derek wasn't sure it was anything other than a mirage brought on by the long days and bad weather. However, the thing remained there persistently hissing at him.  So there he was locked in a stare off with a half drowned kitten for the past five minutes.  

Just then, a clap of thunder tore through the sky making the tiny kitten meep and curl in on itself. Because it obviously didn't have a family to curl up with and no home to run to.

But Derek wasn't going to give in. That thing had hissed at him. He hadn't been doing anything. Besides... who did that?

'Yeah, who does that? Doesn't sound like anyone we know, does it?' his own mind mocked him sarcastically. Derek sighed.

'It couldn't hurt... Could it? Just for one night... Just till the storm they were calling for the next week passed... He could house the kitten that long.' Derek thought, giving in.

Mind made up and with a small nod to himself, Derek placed his groceries down and knelt on the edge of the kitten’s 'territory'. The kitten was stilled curled up and trembling, trying to hide from a threat it could not see. Now how exactly was Derek supposed to get the kitten to follow him?

'Yeah because a tiny scared kitten is just going to get up and follow a wolf back to his den.' his mind mocked and he couldn't help rolling his eyes. That wasn't going to happen.  Looking up, Derek sighed. It looked like he was going to get wet...

Dropping his umbrella, Derek shrugged off his leather jacket. Then he swiftly moved, picking the kitten up by its scruff and bundling it in his jacket. The kitten let out a startled sound and then tried to wiggle out.

Derek huffed as he held the bundle close to his chest with his left arm. Then he bent down, picking up his groceries after hooking his, now closed, umbrella on his arm, and headed up to his apartment. He fumbled the groceries trying to get his door open, but didn't drop them or the kitten so points to him.

Derek quickly put down the groceries on the counter and headed towards the bathroom. Even now, wrapped in his warmed leather jacket and out of the storm, the kitten was trembling. Gently, Derek placed the bundle into the sink and pulled out a towel and the 'emergency' hair-dryer his sisters made him keep for when they visit. Derek plugged in the hair dryer, grabbed the towel, and turned back to see...an empty leather jacket in the sink.

'No, no no no no oh no,' Derek thought as he dropped the things and quickly scanned the bathroom for the kitten. Who was no where to be seen.  And, of course, the bathroom door was open. Derek groaned. Picking up the towel, Derek started his hunt for the little annoyance.

Derek couldn't find one measly little kitten. He had searched everywhere. Under the couch, table, all the chairs, his bed, dresser, basically under all the furniture, behind the entertainment stand, desk, all the pillows, he even checked all the bottom cabinets since one had been left ajar. The kitten was nowhere to be found.   

Derek was doing a second sweep of the living space, on his hands and knees this time so he wouldn't miss an inch, when a crash from the bookcase drew his attention. There, shattered on his living room floor, was the ugly fish figure Cora had gotten him to help "liven up the apartment", which lived on top of the bookcase.

Looking up, Derek caught sight of wet fur. Slowly getting up with disbelief, Derek walked over and looked on top of his bookcase. Sure enough, there, huddled in a corner, was the kitten shivering away, but still giving Derek defiant eyes as if to tell him exactly what would happen if he put his hand up there.    

"How the hell did you get up here?" Derek asked the kitten in disbelief. From where Derek was standing, short of actually being able to levitate, there should be no way for such a tiny kitten to get atop his bookcase. It just defied the laws of physics. The little kitten just glared in answer before a sneeze shook its tiny body, causing Derek to frown.

"Ok, you've had your fun... Now come here so I can get you dried off," Derek said to the kitten. The kitten just continued to glare at him even as shivers ran through its body. Derek sighed, "I guess we will be doing this the hard way then," and swiftly shifted just enough to lift himself up and grab the tiny ball of fur by its scruff.

"Now, I am going to take you back to the bathroom warm you up and you are going to behave," Derek told the kitten, holding it at eye level so he could look it dead in the eye.

"Meow," the kitten said before sneezing again.

______________________________________________________________________________

Derek was tired. His arms were covered in scratches and bite marks all in different stages of healing. The little hellfire had not liked the hair drier at all. But Derek had finally gotten her dry, and, yes, he had figured out that the kitten was a girl and she had stopped trembling and sneezing.

Now, if only he could find something that the little princess would actually eat. So far, she had turned her nose up at everything he had offered.' Well, excuse me. How dare I, a werewolf, not have cat food at the ready for her highness...' Derek thought as he rummaged through his refrigerator to find something.  And, if that wasn't painful enough, she had gone into hiding again.

Derek was just unwrapping the turkey, and cringing at the noise the wrapper made, to make himself a sandwich when he heard a light thud.

"Meow," the kitten said, looking up at Derek from his feet. Derek raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really? This is what you want?" Derek asked the kitten.

"Meow," The kitten replied with wide innocent eyes. Oh sure, now she wanted to play nice. Rolling his eyes, Derek ripped up the turkey into tiny pieces. Taking a piece between his fingers, Derek crouched down and held it out for her. At first, she shied away. Then, when he didn't do anything immediately threatening, she cautiously walked forward and sniffed it before taking out of his grasp.

She gave a tiny purr of delight at the treat and Derek couldn't help but smile as she continued to eat out of his hand. However, when he reached forward to pet her, she pressed her ears to her head and hissed at him.

Why had he thought that this was a good idea again?

______________________________________________________________________________

"You should really give her a name Derek," Laura told him a few weeks later.

"That she-devil is not staying!" Derek hissed while checking to make sure that she wasn't in the room. While she hadn't killed him in his sleep, yet, she definitely hadn't warmed up to him. It was more that they had reached an understanding. She didn't kill him and didn't destroy too much of his things as long as he gave her a daily offering of food.

"Uh huh… You know you've been saying that for weeks, right? Ever since you brought her in? Just admit it, you can't kick her out, you big softie," Laura pointed out, while teasingly poking him.

"Hum," was all Derek responded with. He would never tell anyone, but he had kicked her out. Or, well, more accurately, she had run out the door one morning and he had just let her go. However, of course, it had started raining that night, and so Derek got soaked, again, looking for her. Only to give up after an hour. However, he couldn't sleep that night, not because he was worried, so he heard when one pitiful meow broke through the night. When he went to investigate, there she was, on his fire escape, looking inside almost begrudgingly. Like she wanted to be out of the rain, but she resented having to ask for help.

Derek had snorted and crossed his arms to start her down. She had just glared at him until a thunder clap rolled through. Then she gave him just one more tiny meow and widened her eyes just so. Derek had caved faster than a deck of cards and let her back in. That was the night they reached their understanding, but that didn't mean either of them had to like it.

"So about watching my kids next week..." Laura said pulling him from his memories.

"I'll watch your little monsters," Derek told her with a huff and eye roll.

_____________________________________________________________________________

If Derek never watched The Lion King again, it would be too soon. His niece and nephew were obsessed with it and, after watching it a few dozen times, they played "pride" were Derek always got casted as Scar. It wasn't that Derek didn't love it, playing "pride" was good practice and bonding for pack, but Derek could quote the movie word for word now. And, on top of it being a long week, a thunder storm had rolled in while Derek was away. All Derek wanted to do was drop in his bed and sleep for a week.     

All this added up to the fact that what happened next wasn't Derek's fault.

Derek opened the door to his apartment and froze. His jaw dropped as he took in the scene in front of him. His curtains were in tatters, his couch was puking its guts out, the lamp in the corner was knocked over, the table legs where scratched to hell and back, and his rug looked more like a yarn ball than a rug.

"SARABI!" Derek bellowed and, against all odds, she showed up. That shocked him almost as much as his living room had. She slunk in from the shadows, tail puffed to the max, hackles raised, and ears flat but what really got Derek were her eyes and smell. She was terrified.  

Derek dropped to his knees, held out a hand, and started whispering, "Come here girl, come here. It's ok, it can't get you in here," over and over again until she shuffled forward a little.

That was all Derek needed to scoop her up and hold her against his chest, right over his heart.

"It's ok, Sarabi. I got you, you're ok," Derek whispered, then placed a kiss on the top of her head. Sarabi had calmed down and was now just slightly trembling against his chest, but she wasn't fighting him and she didn't stink of fear anymore.

Derek headed straight for his bed and gently lowered himself onto it, trying not to jostle Sarabi too much. Derek softly pet her from head to tail while she laid on top of his heart. He felt as she slowly loosened up and curl herself willingly on him. He heard, to his never ending shock, as she started to give off a soft purr, he heard how her heart beat started to match his own. Then, with half closed eyes and a gentle purr, Sarabi lifted her head stretched her front paws in front of her curled her tail around and gave his stubble a quick tentative lick before placing her head down on her paws and falling asleep, all the while her heart beating along to the tempo of his own.

"That's my Sarabi," Derek breathed out. Then, he placed his hand on top of her and drifted off to sleep, himself.

______________________________________________________________________________

"Sarabi?" Cora asked, raising a judgmental eyebrow at him over her cup of coffee.

"Yep," Derek told her. Sarabi appeared just then like she knew they were talking about her and demanded Derek's attention by rubbing herself along his neck, under his chin. Cora snorted as Derek absently reached up and scratched under Sarabi's chin.

"I thought you two had an 'agreement'," Cora mocked him.

"Agreements can change," Derek defended.

"Uh huh... Just admit it. You are a big softie," Cora teased.

"Never," Derek teased back, baring his fangs at her and raising his hands to show off his claws. Derek was just teasing, but Sarabi took it as a personal attack that, not only was Derek 'upset,' but she was no longer getting pet and she turned and hissed and Cora. Sarabi even swiped at Cora like she was defending Derek. Cora looked so shocked and Sarabi's actions were so outrageous that Derek couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud like he hadn't in years.   

______________________________________________________________________________

"Derek. let us in!" Cora yelled as she banged on the door.

"Go away," Derek yelled back from his nest...spot on the couch.

"Derek, come on! We brought more icecream and the special Vodka," Laura bribed in an almost sing song voice. Derek just glared at the door and continued to pet Sarabi who was curled up in his lap.

"Derek, I'll break down the door! I swear I will! We gave you a week, now let us in," Cora all but growled through the door. Derek's mouth thinned. How could they possibly know that it had been that long? He hadn't told anyone and, sure, he missed a few calls, but that could have just been a long week at work, nothing too unusual. How could they have found out?

"Derek, I didn't want to do this, but you are leaving me no choice," Laura warned. Derek just huffed. What was she going to do? They couldn't really break down the door.

"Sarabi. Sweetie, let Auntie Laura in," Laura cooed. Derek almost laughed but then Sarabi got up and jumped out of his lap, walked over to his keys, picked them up and trotted to his room where the fire escape was.

Derek listened in shocked silence as Laura walked back to the apartment entrance and picked up Sarabi who, traitor that she was, was purring away in Laura's arms. A moment later, Derek watched as his door opened, allowing his sisters in.

"Wha...What?" Derek questioned in shocked disbelief. There was no way his cat just let in his sister in his apartment...?

"Oh, Sarabi and I came to an agreement ages ago. See, anytime you start mopping, pinning,or showing any real levels of distress, Sarabi gives you two days and, if you haven't stopped by then, she comes and gets me. Then, I give you five more days before we intervene," Laura informed him cheerfully as she pulled out a few pinches of catnip from her pocket and gave them to Sarabi.

"Wha.." was Derek's intelligent reply.

"Please, of course I know about that cute little cat door you made for her to get to the fire escape when she wants to wander. You have had her for about three years now. You care about her, so it makes sense that she cares about you too," Laura said dismissively, now more interested in the state of his living room. Derek's only comfort was that Cora was glaring at Laura so it would appear that she didn't know about this either. Then again, Cora and Sarabi still weren't on the best of terms.

"You've been training my cat to spy on me?" Derek questioned, bewildered. Sarabi chose that moment to jump back up into Derek's lap and demand that he pet her. Still shocked, Derek did pet her making Cora snort as Laura hummed.

"She's got you trained," Cora teased as she brushed the empty ice cream and Chinese take out containers off of the couch and onto the floor so she could wrap herself around Derek comfortably.    

"Which one?" Derek asked, nodding first at Laura then Sarabi.

"Both," Cora told him while laughing. Laura came back in from the kitchen, gave his living room another once over and sighing over the sight of empty ice cream containers, Chinese take out, and pizza boxes littered around his nest of blankets he made on the couch and made room for herself and her bottle of Vodka on the couch.

"You can get one more night. If you tell us everything, you can mope tonight and tomorrow we'll clean up this mess," Laura informed him while bringing her hand to his neck and giving him a gentle squeeze. Derek could already feel himself relax surrounded by his sisters and Sarabi.   

"Ok," Derek promised, surrendering to his sister and taking a drink.

A few hours (and bottles) later, Derek was telling them everything. He told them about how he thought Jennifer might have been the one and about how she had laughed when he asked her to move in. About how she told him that he was fun and they had good times, but she wasn't the settling type. She was just looking for some fun and he was 'hot'.

Derek laughed at how, every time he said Jennifer's name, Sarabi hissed and he  told them about how Sarabi had hated her. That got them all talking about old exs and how none, since Derek brought her home, had passed the Sarabi test. Not even Cora's dates were spared judgment when she brought them over.   

'Maybe I should just listen to Sarabi next time...' Derek thought with a snort. How bad was it that he was leaving his love life in the paws of his cat? Just then, Sarabi braced herself on his chest and started licking his stubble. Derek smiled, 'Yeah, next time I'll listen to her...'

______________________________________________________________________________

"Sarabi, no!" Derek yelled too late. Sarabi was already running past him and down the hall. With a curse, Derek took off after her. He caught sight of her just as she leapt from the railing and pounced on some poor, unsuspecting stranger.

"Wha...fu..." the stranger cursed as he fumbled and dropped his coffee all over himself. Derek groaned.

"Shit! Are you ok?" Derek asked the stranger as he rushed towards him.

"Uh..." was the reply Derek got, making him raise an eyebrow at the kid. The kid flushed, making Derek smirk.

"Meow" Sarabi interrupted from her perch on the kids shoulder. It was Derek's turn to blush in embarrassment.  He had completely forgotten about her.

"Um..." Derek intelligently explained to the kid.

"She yours?" he asked with a smirk of his own now as he reached his hand up and gave her a pat.

"Yeah, sorry about this. She doesn't usually attack strangers," Derek told him as he took Sarabi back, much to her apparent displeasure.

"Hey, no worries man. At least there's no blood, right? The coffee will wash out," the stranger told him with a small chuckle and sheepish laugh.

"I can pay for the dry cleaning," Derek offered quickly.

"No man, it's cool," he reassured Derek.

"There has to be something I can do to apologize," Derek insisted.

"Well, if you insist. I'll settle for a name and a replacement coffee," he told Derek, ending with an outrageous leer and eyebrow wiggle. Derek was stuck between being shocked at his forwardness and laughing at his antics, so he settled for rolling his eyes at him.

"Derek," he told the stranger, holding out the hand not currently holding Sarabi.

"Stiles," the stranger...Stiles said, taking his hand.

"And about the coffee..." Stiles asked with a hopeful smile. Derek couldn't help but let out a huff of amusement.

"I'd like to," Derek said with a smile.

"Let me go but her back inside and I'll come back down and pick you up in about five minutes. Sound good?" Derek asked him.

"Yeah that sounds...yeah, good," Stiles said, nodding with eyes wide open.

"And, in the mean time, you can change your shirt," Derek said with a significant look and one raised eyebrow. It was worth it to hear Stiles sputter and curse while flushing. Derek turned with a small private smile and gave Sarabi a kiss on her head.

"You need to mind your own business missy. You're becoming as noisy as my sisters you know," Derek whispered to her, giving her a disapproving look. Sarabi just gave him an unimpressed look in return before wiggling out of his grasp and walking back to the apartment with her tail held high. Derek just shook his head and followed her lead.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Look I’m not dead! Here have all the Derek kitten feels! Because I love the idea of Derek with a kitten and my Beta is an enabler!  
> As always, many thanks and a round(of alcohol or just applause)(just remember, I am not Gaga, I do not live on applause) for my stupendous Beta! Who, yes, will be getting her fox!Stiles fix out of me. Oh yeah, you guys are getting a fox fic in the very near future. Hope you enjoyed the read!


End file.
